Together
by What the Fluff Project
Summary: As long as Gwen and Jack are together, they'll be alright. Harcooper. Based off of a roleplay between Ofelia (unshakespearean) and Mary (Professional Procrastinator). T for language and Jackness


**Title: Together  
Authors: Ofelia (unshakespearean) and Mary (Professional Procrastinator)  
Fandom: Torchwood  
Characters: [Gwen, Jack]  
Rating: T  
Warnings: Language and Jack-ness**

* * *

**Chapter One**

Gwen watched as Ianto, Tosh, and Owen left the Hub to go after a Weevil. Perhaps now was her chance. "Jack?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yeah?" He walked over to her desk, leaning against the wall next to her. "What's going on?"

It was then that she thought perhaps this was a bad idea. Would Jack even care about what had happened? She wanted desperately to tell him; she felt that she had nobody else to talk to. But how would he react?

"Gwen, what happened?" There was something about the way he asked her that got her to say it.

"Rhys… he called it quits."

"Oh, Gwen," Jack said softly. "Gwen, I'm so sorry." He walked closer to her and laid a hand on her shoulder, rubbing it gently. "Did he say why?"

She gulped, not wanting to say it. Because if she did, Jack would surely be furious. She'd seen him angry before, and, while she'd never admit it out loud, it was her greatest fear.

"Gwen, please just tell me," Jack almost begged. Her hesitation was only too familiar; he had hesitated in that same way so many times before. And if there was one thing he knew, it was that holding back would just make the pain worse and worse. He could see it already in her eyes, just beginning to glimmer with tears, and those too she was trying to desist from falling, but despite this he could tell that whatever Rhys had said or done was devastating her.

"You'll hate me," she whispered, her hands trembling.

The words tumbled out before he could plan them. "First of all, I could _never_ hate you. And second, even if I could, I wouldn't hate you for something someone else said." He laid his hand on top of hers, steadying it. "Go on," he encouraged.

"He thought… he thought we… you and I…" She trailed off, unable to say the last few words, tears now flowing steadily. It took less than a nanosecond for Jack to understand, and as soon as he did, he could feel the anger building up. "I tried to tell him," she sobbed, "but he wouldn't listen, I'm sorry-"

Jack cut her off by grabbing her shoulders. "You don't need to apologize," he said firmly, squeezing gently. "Not for that."

"I tried to tell him it wasn't true," she repeated. "I did, honestly but-"

"I know," Jack interrupted. "I know you tried. I know. You don't have to tell me that." She opened her mouth to say _I'm sorry_ again, but he quickly cut her off. "Don't be sorry. This isn't your fault. It's on him. Absolutely, completely on him." And it was. How _dare _that man think that Gwen would _ever _do something like that? He looked down to see that Gwen had buried her head in her hands, shaking slightly, and all he wanted to do was hold her.

Okay, that was a bit of a lie. There were _plenty_ of things he'd like to do with her. But that wasn't the point. Especially since there was something more. Something Gwen still wasn't telling him.

_He doesn't hate me_, Gwen thought as she pondered whether or not to continue. _If he didn't hate me for that, I might as well finish._

"Go on," Jack encouraged. "I know that there's more."

Gwen took a deep breath before continuing, "And… and earlier today, when I was running errands, I saw him snogging some other girl that I'd never seen before. And-and then he saw me, and gave me the finger…" She broke off, tears still falling.

"Well then," Jack said casually. "Did you give it back to him?" Gwen shot him a bit of a glare, her eyes clearly saying _Oh, come on; I'd never do that_. "Okay, okay," Jack said, putting his hands up. "Just lightening the mood. I think it worked." She rolled her eyes. "Hey, at least you're not crying anymore."

Gwen sighed. "True…"

"So. Want to get pizza?" He held out a hand to help her up.

She took it, and stood up. "Yeah, I guess…" And then she cracked a smile. "If we bump into him, feel free to punch him in the face."

Jack laughed, putting an arm around her shoulder. "Glad I have your permission," he chuckled. "I'd do it anyway."

She leaned into his shoulder ever-so-slightly. "I know."

Jack grinned broadly. "It's a date, then! Let's go before the others get back!"

Gwen nudged him gently. "You realize I _just _broke up with someone else, right?" She sighed. "Whatever."

"Well, in my experience, which is a lot," Jack explained, "it's better to move on fast."

"I'd try to argue," Gwen started, "but then again, you _are _two-hundred-plus years old." She sighed again. "What do you think the others will say when they see we're not there?"

"He finally admitted his feelings," Jack replied nonchalantly. Gwen blushed, and that's when Jack realized what he'd said. "Wait… oh, shit…"

Her blush deepened. "I-I didn't know…"

Jack blushed as well, stammering "Y-yeah…" A tear began forming in her eye. "Wait, shit, why are you crying?" Jack asked nervously. "I didn't do anything wrong… did I?" Gwen said nothing, instead continuing to cry and wrapping her arms tightly around Jack's waist. Jack's immediate instinct was to hug back, and the minute he acted on it, she hugged even tighter.

He grinned as he came up with a way to lighten the mood a bit. "Well," he started, "I _would _suggest taking this to the bedroom, but I feel like you're appreciating the feeling of being held." She laughed weakly as she hugged closer, partly because she did in fact like this feeling, but also to hide the fact that she was blushing even more profusely.

Unfortunately, that hiding didn't last long, as Jack tilted her head up and wiped the tears off her face. "Now, stop crying. You'll streak your makeup. Not that you _need _it. More like I know you'd care if it got messed up."

Gwen looked up at him, her eyes still glimmering with tears, and her heart racing, as she hadn't been called pretty, directly or indirectly, for a very long time. "Jack?" she asked nervously.

He smiled at her. "Yeah, beautiful?"

And she took a major leap of faith. "I… I love you…" She looked down, her face flushed even deeper as she awaited the embarrassment and pain of rejection.

But it didn't come. Instead, she heard Jack's voice just above her, murmuring "I love you too… more than you know." At this she looked up, her heart racing even faster as she wondered whether this was even real. "Yeah," he said, his smile widening. "Gwen Cooper, I love you."

It was enough to get her to take the next, smaller, leap of faith. Getting up on tiptoe, she leaned in, hoping, hoping, and within seconds he was leaning down and kissing her, hard, wrapping his arms tightly around her. She kissed back, passionately, almost desperately, still not sure whether or not this was real but taking the chance while she had it.

All too soon, Jack pulled away. He leaned closer, brushing a bit of hair out of the way as he breathlessly whispered, "Now… how about that pizza?"

_Trust Jack to make a question like that feel lustful_, Gwen thought, smiling slightly in amusement. She tried as hard as she could to not say "Yeah, sure," in an equally breathless voice, but unfortunately, she failed.


End file.
